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End of Month Review - September 2012

Crikey! What happened to September? I am sure it only had three weeks in it, maybe only two and half, it was never a whole four weeks, I just don't believe it! It has been a month of change, the season has definitely turned, summer (we sort of had summer, ish) finished with a nice warm early September bit and now we are in quite a nice, largely sunny, early autumn bit - with some rain (buckets of the stuff at times) along the way. So, here is where the garden is after all that:

The roses are doing well this year, it's been a good year for the roses as Elvis (C not P) would say. This is Rose Ballerina in the shady corner of the front garden. I first grew this rose at a previous house as a symbol for my daughter, so whenever I move I have to buy another one so that the rose is always with me. For my son I plant a Silver Birch but that is currently not doing very much so will be for a future post.

This border in the front garden is looking quite good, there are some wonderful purple salvias that are part of the Thompson and Morgan trial I am taking part in, the anemones and the red rose that is one of the few original plants from when I moved into this house. The rose is really doing well this year, a bit of liquid seaweed has perked it up no end. I am not going to spend a lot of time in this review on my front garden as the main part of it is work in progress. When the renovation work is complete I will let you know.

The begonias are still doing amazingly well....

and are now joined by some Thompson and Morgan pansies and a hardy begonia in the Armcote Bee pot I bought the other week from Whichford Pottery.

The gravel garden has also enjoyed the recent rain. The mexican daisies are waving away and the Thompson and Morgan gazanias grown from seed are also still flowering well. There is virtually no soil in this corner, it is gravel and sort of sand underneath, but they seem happy.

The Manx Fuscia is winding itself around the bird feeding pole and the phlox, it has had a very good year.

The vegbeds look autumnal, the sweet corn has finished, the courgettes are having a late surge. I am letting the last of cobra beans dry out for planting next year and the caulis I sowed appear to be cabbages.

I have sown green manure this year for the first time, it is a bit patchy at the moment but I am expecting great things from this.

The Persicaria Orientalis is flowering at last. It must be seven foot tall, what an amazing annual it is. I absolutely love it.

It is reaching to the sky!

The wild garden has been mowed, it is its annual cut. This totally changes the look and feel of the garden. It suddenly has more space again and opens right up. I miss the chaos of the wild garden but love this period of space and calm.

It gives me different views of the garden, this is the view across the dancing lawn with the apple tree on one side and the dahlia border on the other. In the distance (not that far really) is the grassy knoll and the prairie borders.

Rosa Wild Edric is growing up the apple tree, it is doing really well this year, wafting its scent across the dancing lawn.

The woodland border looks a bit scratty, it might soon be renamed the fuscia border, it certainly has several in it now, a Manx, a Devon, a Hawkshead and Mrs Popple.

The cyclamen are flowering for the first time, I have been talking the ants and requesting that they carry the seeds around a bit to spread them through the wild garden. I am not sure if they listened or not, they were too busy biting me.

The amalanchier leaves are on the turn, the flames of red are flickering around the edges.

I'm still really happy with my prairie borders, they make me smile.

The dahlia border has been good this year, the Coltness Mix dahlias have flowered well, though are a little shorter then I would ideally like. The zinnias have done well too in this border and have kept flowering for weeks.

The main lawn with the pond border to the left and the coal bunker border to the right is looking pretty good I think, well actually I'm not that bothered about the lawn itself expect it is a wonderful stretch of green that shows off the borders well.

The coal bunker border is a mass of roses and asters and cardoons. I am pleased with it this year, but really should have staked the asters better, they have flopped over.

The pond border is dominated by Helianthus Lemon Queen, Tithonia and cosmos, but the Helianthus are soon to be thinned out. I have about four clumps, it is too overwhelming in most of the border so I am clearing it out to have just one, large, clump.

The Conservatory border is looking quite good, a bit patchy in places but the roses, echinacea and rudbeckias have created a good framework.

There is a monster aster in the border too, which I love, the purple is wonderful with the yellows and pinks.

The Hellebore Border is largely full of hellebores (amazing!) but also keeps producing welsh poppies, so my garden still has a good supply of poppies even though it is so late in the year.

The hedges are full of autumn bounty, my hips are great this year (!)

good haws too (!!)

lots of sloes

and of course blackberries, always many blackberries

I finish as always on the pond, it is pretty full, but also quite full of green slimey blanket weed. I spend a lot of time twizzling it out with a stick, which is remarkably theraputic.

It's always nice to visit Autmumnal gardens when I'm experiencing Spring. The contrast is somehow stimulating. I planted my first Ballerina rose in Winter so I'm really excited about seeing it flower for the first time, and even more so after seeing how gorgeous yours is.

What an amazing garden you have, so much variety. The complete change in feel when you cut the wild garden must have its own kind of magic. I love your prairie garden, not surprised it makes you smile!

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